Words Strategize for the World

That evening, Fang Wei returned to the school building and told Fang Yue that it would take a few more days before he could enroll in the Wentang Academy. Then, before it got dark, he went to the training ground to practice.

Fang Wei's goal is to continuously gain insights through writing, deepen his sense of rhythm, thereby enhancing his cultivation and enabling him to control the characters more subtly.

At the Law level, one can only control four characters, but Fang Wei has already mastered and can control the characters "定" (dìng, fixed) and "滚" (gǔn, rolling). He needs to carefully consider the remaining two characters before he can cultivate their rhythm and then control them.

Therefore, Fang Wei could only continuously practice controlling the two words "fixation" and "rolling".

The character "定" holds even deeper significance for Fang Wei, so Fang Wei plans to master its cultivation and control first.

Fang Wei first closed his eyes to feel the rhythm, and then began to write. The feeling of completely mastering the rhythm was truly different. Every time Fang Wei wrote the character "定" (ding), it seemed to leap off the paper. This feeling was wonderful, like watching a little elf break free of its restraints.

Moreover, Fang Wei was especially happy every time he saw the character "定" leap off the paper. At this moment, Fang Wei felt a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

Why is this happening?

Because this is Fang Wei's foundation in this world. The literati are powerful because there are refined scholars; those who aren't refined scholars are at the very bottom of the social hierarchy. This can be seen from his recent experiences.

Fang Wei understood one principle very well: no matter what world you're in, only those with strong fists can do whatever they want. What are fists? Fists are force, money, power, status—the sum of all powerful resources.

That's why Fang Wei feels such a strong sense of accomplishment and satisfaction from manipulating words.

Fang Wei practiced manipulating the fixed characters repeatedly until it was completely dark before returning to the school building to rest.

After an evening of practice, Fang Wei had reached the beginner level in controlling the "Fixed" character, and could basically do it at will. Since this practice had all taken place on paper, Fang Wei wasn't entirely sure of the combat power of the "Fixed" character. He needed to find a time and a suitable partner to test it out properly.

That night, Fang Wei was so excited that he almost couldn't sleep.

The next day, Fang Wei got up very early, took his writing materials and went to the training ground to fulfill his promise to Zhang Nianwei.

When Fang Wei arrived at the edge of the training ground, he found that Zhang Nianwei was already waiting for him.

Fang Wei ran to Zhang Nianwei's side and said, "Why did you get here so early?"

Zhang Nianwei retorted, "It's not that I was early, it's that you're too lazy."

Fang Wei scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed, so he quickly changed the subject: "Come on, let's start writing. I'll show you my handwriting."

"Okay, okay"

Fang Wei discovered that Zhang Nianwei was clever and quick-witted, with a lively and likable personality. She could be a little absent-minded at times, but her flaws did not detract from her overall charm; she was a very lovely girl.

Semi-cursive script is very easy, and most beginners will practice regular script first. Once they reach a certain level, they can practice semi-cursive script. Semi-cursive script is regular script with running script brushstrokes, focusing on incorporating the connected strokes of running script into the structure of regular script. It transforms the originally dignified and serious regular script into a lively and dynamic semi-cursive script. As long as you pay attention to the connected strokes and don't simplify too much, maintaining the general style of regular script is sufficient.

There are no hard-pen pens in Yongping Continent, and scholars all start practicing calligraphy with brushes from a young age, so practicing semi-cursive script should be quite easy.

After Fang Wei explained the key points of regular script to Zhang Nianwei, Zhang Nianwei quickly started practicing.

Zhang Nianwei's handwriting is beautiful and elegant. After understanding the key points of semi-cursive script, her handwriting quickly took shape. However, Fang Wei's handwriting always seemed awkward; it was neither elegant nor unrestrained, nor dignified.

Looking at Zhang Nianwei's awkward handwriting, Fang Wei felt that the semi-cursive script style didn't suit her. Fang Wei recalled the saying in calligraphy circles that "Yan Hui is good at writing male characters, Liu Gongquan is good at writing female characters." So he said to Zhang Nianwei, "I don't think semi-cursive script suits you. Your handwriting is very awkward. I know a style that would suit you very well."

"Which font suits me?" Zhang Nianwei herself felt awkward, so she quickly asked Fang Wei.

"Here, I'll write it down for you," Fang Wei said, picking up a pen and starting to write.

After hearing just a few words, Zhang Nianwei's eyes widened, and she kept urging Fang Wei to teach her quickly.

This calligraphy is characterized by its vigorous structure and meticulous attention to detail in each character. Primarily lean and powerful, the characters are graceful and elegant, with strong and robust strokes. Moreover, the brushwork is skillful, steady yet refined, bold yet not bizarre, mature yet not withered, smooth yet not bloated, and possesses a harmonious and unparalleled elegance.

The characters are evenly slender and sharp, with exposed edges and full of variation, making them neither monotonous nor repetitive.

After finishing his explanation, he prepared to instruct Zhang Nianwei, but found that Zhang Nianwei did not move and was staring at him.

Zhang Nianwei said with a hint of admiration, "How do you know about two completely different fonts? I think it's difficult to even write one well."

Fang Wei did not answer, but instead wrote a few words for Zhang Nianwei to read.

Zhang Nianwei was indeed very perceptive. Fang Wei only explained it once and wrote a dozen or so characters, and Zhang Nianwei's writing was already somewhat similar.

Fang Wei then explained the precautions for using various fonts to Zhang Nianwei. Throughout the teaching process, the physical contact between the two teenagers made both of them somewhat distracted. It seemed that something had grown between the two souls who initially didn't know each other very well.

As Zhang Nianwei began practicing calligraphy to get into character, Fang Wei also started writing to continue practicing rhythm and manipulating the characters.

At this time, Fang Wei was teaching Zhang Nianwei Liu-style regular script, and since it was inconvenient for him to practice other styles, he also wrote in Liu-style. When Fang Wei wrote the character "定" (ding) in Liu-style, he noticed a momentary fluctuation in rhythm. If Fang Wei hadn't been extremely familiar with Liu-style, he probably wouldn't have noticed it.

The fluctuations came strangely and went away quickly. In order to figure out what was going on with the fluctuations, Fang Wei wrote the character "定" (ding) again.

When the character "定" (ding) took shape and leaped off the paper, the fluctuations reappeared, and Fang Wei felt that the "定" that leaped off the paper was slightly stronger than when he cultivated last night.

So Fang Wei wrote down the character "定" again, carefully pondered it, and found that it had indeed been strengthened by a little.

Just as Fang Wei was about to continue, Zhang Nianwei said, "Fang Wei, today is a sunny day, do you have anywhere to go?"

Fang Wei thought for a moment and, seeing that he had nowhere to go, replied to Zhang Nianwei, "I plan to practice rhythmic movements at the training ground."

"Oh, you're so boring. How about I take you for a stroll around the city?" Zhang Nianwei said slyly.

When Zhang Nianwei said she would take him sightseeing in the prefectural city, Fang Wei naturally understood that it was Zhang Nianwei's own idea to go. However, Fang Wei thought that it would be unreasonable for him to come to the prefectural city and not go sightseeing, so he nodded in agreement.

After nodding, Fang Wei immediately said, "I have a brother named Fang Yue, and I want to take him with me. Is that alright?"

Zhang Nianwei was overjoyed to have someone accompany her shopping, so why would she object?

"Okay, no problem. Let's go back now and meet at the school gate later."

Fang Wei originally planned to continue his cultivation to figure out what caused the fluctuations when writing Liu-style calligraphy, but now that's clearly impossible.

Fang Wei said, "Okay, I'll bring Fang Yue and wait for you at the entrance of the academy in a bit."

When Fang Wei returned to the school building, Fang Yue was also practicing calligraphy. Fang Wei went over to take a look and found that Fang Yue's characters were too square and not round enough, which was not very good-looking.

"You learned and practiced all of this on your own?"

Fang Yue replied, "Yes. It's not well written, but I don't know how to correct it."

Fang Wei carefully searched his memory for the fonts he had practiced before and found one that was very suitable for Fang Yue.

"I know a font that would suit you perfectly, I'll teach you how to write it."

Fang Yue was overjoyed and quickly said, "Okay, okay. Teach me now."

"Not now." After telling Fang Yue about their planned trip to the prefectural city, Fang Wei said, "We'll teach you when we get back."

Although Fang Yue really wanted to learn the font Fang Wei had mentioned, she knew it wasn't the right time, so she had to suppress her eagerness for now.